


Ike's Lordly Duties

by Benfrosh



Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: 'lord' might be the single least fitting class for ike in the entire world, M/M, ah yes politics and reconstruction logistics, the classic content all fans come to ao3 for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 03:03:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6139141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Benfrosh/pseuds/Benfrosh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ike is dealing with his new position as a Crimean lord.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ike's Lordly Duties

Ike and Soren sat waiting on a bench outside of Queen Elincia's salon. They had shown up for a meeting Elincia had called them to, but apparently her previous meeting was running long. Soren had pulled out the latest tome he was studying, while Ike contented himself resting against the wall. No time for a good nap the last couple of weeks since the end of the war - Ike had been busy getting all the assembled forces back to their homelands, reorganizing the Crimean army, getting his own mercenaries (not technically part of the Crimean Army) organized now that peace had settled once more, and he had barely started on his share of the reconstruction work. In fact, that was what this meeting was about: Elincia had yet to sit down with Ike and outline his areas of responsibility, his resources available, who he'd be working with, and all those things Soren kept bugging Ike about. As far as Ike was concerned, he just wanted to go out there and get his hands dirty. But unfortunately that wasn't how the world worked, and most saliently it wasn't how Ike's new role as a Crimean general worked. So here Ike was, attending a meeting with the new queen. 

Ike turned to look at Soren, buried in his book. Thank goodness he was here, though, Ike thought to himself. Without Soren, Ike wouldn't have a clue what to do or how to navigate the situations he kept getting thrust into as a member of the nobility. He reached out to playfully ruffle Soren's hair a little. "Ike, not now," Soren shot back with a glare and a blush. Aw. Ike was tired of acting all prim and proper in the castle already, and he'd barely been a lord for any length of time.

The salon door opened, and a tall, imposing brown haired man in a white jacket walked out. Before leaving, however, he turned back inwards and said, "Farewell, Queen Elincia. I do hope you'll take my advice under consideration."

"And to you as well, Duke Ludveck. We shall take your advice under consideration," came the response from the study. And with that dismissal, Ludveck turned to face Ike and Soren, still sitting on the bench.

"Ah, hello there, Lord Ike," said the duke with a bow and deliberate emphasis on the title. "I do apologize for holding up your meeting with our dear Queen. I hope I have not caused you undue offense."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I appreciated the chance to rest," Ike replied back.

"I do understand. The pressures of nobility can be... awfully hard to handle, for one not used to the weight of the position."

"That's a heck of an insult," Ike retorted casually.

The duke's sneer widened into a laughing grin. "You are direct, aren't you? I'm looking forward to working with you more, Lord Ike."

"You too, Duke Ludveck. Let's do what we can for the reconstruction," Ike finished with a farewell nod. The duke walked off, and Ike would've sworn his grin turned into an angry frown as he passed. 

"Lord Ike, you may enter now," came the voice from the salon once more. Ike and Soren rose to enter the salon.

The salon was not lavishly decorated - a few oak cabinets and a desk that Elincia was seated at the only major furnishings. Windows looked out upon a garden full of colorful flowers, adding a splash of color to the room it otherwise lacked. Ike figured it must be a newly converted room. "Please, take a seat," Elincia said gesturing at the two chairs on the opposite side of the desk she was sitting at. Covered in papers, maps, letters, it looked like Elincia had been using it as her base of command for orchestrating the changes the kingdom was going through. Ike pulled out a chair for Soren before sitting down himself.

"Hey, Queen Elincia. Looks like you've been busy," Ike said.

"Yes, I'm afraid this isn't even the half of it," Elincia replied with a sigh, exhaustion evident on her face. "Being a queen can be very tiring... but I must do my best," she added, composing herself once more. "Anyways, Lord Ike, I called you here for a reason."

"You wished to discuss our funding and priorities for the reconstruction, correct?" Soren had put away his book and drawn out a long scroll from somewhere among his robes. "I've taken the liberty to draw up a list of plans we can undertake shortly for your consideration..."

Aaaaand that was Ike's cue to zone out. He tried to keep up with Soren, but Soren always had the better high level grasp of these things. In a battle, Ike could lead, no problem. Grand strategy? Ike was passable. But he never had the slightest clue about how to organize a kingdom in peacetime. Never really came up in training, honestly. And Ike wanted to help, he really did, but...

"So, I think it'd be best for us to start in Felirae, which has the most insecurity and the most damage from the war. If we do well there, we can expand to the rest of Crimea," Soren concluded.

Elincia nodded. "That makes sense. Supplies are limited, of course, but I can provide you with fifteen thousand gold and access to the local lumber stores. Will that be enough for the reconstruction efforts?"

"Yes, but I think we'll have larger problems than the actual reconstruction."

Elincia sighed. "... yes. I've seen it myself. People are scared. The war upset everything they knew, they have a new queen they don't know... it's a scary time. I'm hoping you can be a symbol of hope for them, Lord Ike."

Ike nodded. "It's the least I can do. I want things to return to normal for everyone, too."

Elincia smiled, a warmth long missing returning to her face. "Thank you, Lord Ike. It means the world to have your strength helping us in our time of need."

"Aw, come on, you don't have to call me that. We're friends, right?" Ike replied, scratching his head.

"Hehe, that's true, but it's the fact of your position now, Lord Ike. I'm afraid you're going to have to get used to it."

\---

"My lord! A pleasure to receive you here, in our humble village of Demir."

Ike, Soren, and the Greil Mercenaries had arrived in Demir as the next stop in their reconstruction campaign. While they had intended to set out to Felirae to start, Ike had found many places along the way that had suffered from the war. Bandit attacks, looting from the Daein army, untended fields as a result of farmhands being called to war, families that lost their livelihoods... the kingdom had suffered. And Ike could never turn his head from people in trouble. So at each place they reached in turn, Ike went to help. Rebuilding houses, tilling farms, driving off bandits, securing roads, whatever he could do. But it never felt like enough. Here, in Demir, their fields had been trampled and burned as a result of a Daein rogue group, and...

"My pleasure to be here, Mayor Tirnstock. We're here on Queen Elincia's orders to do anything we can to help with reconstruction."

The mayor's eyes, deepset in a plump face, swelled in surprise. "I had heard you were in the area, but really, sir, we will get by just fine. There's no need to worry yourself about our humble little hamlet."

That's a load of manure, Ike thought to himself, but he didn't want to be rude. "I've seen what the Daein army did to your village. Really, no strings attached, I'm just here to help." Soren had left Ike to handle the talking to the mayor, and was outside coordinating reconstruction efforts already.

"Well, if you do insist," the mayor replied, visibly flustered, "there are several farmsteads that were damaged-"

A loud slam echoed through the mayor's small house, and as Ike turned to see who entered, a heavily armored knight walked in. "Lord Ike? A moment of your time."

"Does it have to be now?" Ike replied, standing up from the chair he was in. "I was in the middle of-"

"Now, sir. Duke Ludveck wishes to speak with you and your men."

Ugh. "I'm coming then. Hold your horses."

In the town square, the Greil Mercenaries had been gathered. Surrounding them were more of what were apparently Duke Ludveck's troops, the duke himself standing near Soren - gloating? Ugh, this was going to be even worse than Ike expected. Ike approached the duke.

"Hello, my dear Lord Ike. A pleasure to see you here, in Demir," Ludveck greeted Ike with as he approached. Ike could feel the hate in his speech, despite the pleasant words.

"Hello, Duke Ludveck. How are you today?" Might as well stay polite. Mama didn't raise no rude boy.

"Oh, quite well, managing my territory," Ludveck continued, with exaggerated emphasis on 'my'. "You were aware, weren't you? That Demir is part of the duchy of Felirae?"

"I mean, I sure hope so. We were coming to help out Felirae with reconstruction."

"Oh, really?" Ludveck replied, a glare entering his eyes. "Without coming to visit me first? Why, it's as if the Queen was trying to usurp my domain by sending our own 'hero' to steal the loyalty of my people. But there's no way she'd be doing that, would she?"

"What?" Even Ike had to express his incredulity at that. "Does Elincia seem like the kind of person who'd try to do that? We're seriously just here to help with reconstruction."

"Ah yes, our new queen is far too delicate to do that. Thus why she would send you to do the dirty work for her. I see through your plots."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Sir Ludveck," Ike replied, his anger mounting. "We're here to help the people whose lives have been destroyed by war. This isn't the time for political intrigue. This is the time for us to come together, one and all, and fix things. Make things better."

"Strong words, for someone who isn't even native to our beautiful kingdom of Crimea. No, I'm afraid that you'll be leaving. Now. You, your troops, and this," Ludveck turned to sneer at Soren, "wretch. I might throw him in jail for interfering with the running of my fiefdom. Maybe a lashing would teach him a lesson."

Ike punched Ludveck square in the face.

"Ike! What are you doing?!" Soren exclaimed in surprise.

"I've had enough of this, Duke Ludveck. We're finishing the reconstruction here, and your troops will leave. Now."

Ludveck pulled back from the recoil of the punch, blood streaming from his nose and a bruise forming on his face. "... Queen Elincia will hear of this."

"Good, let her know. That'll be faster." Ike brushed off his knuckles.

Ludveck glared, and waved for his troops to pull back before storming off. 

"... Ike, please ask me before you do things like that again." Soren said, walking up to Ike. The rest of the mercenaries had dispersed back to work on their original projects.

"What was I supposed to do, 'Hey, Soren, can I please punch Duke Ludveck in the face?'"

Soren sighed. "Yes, even that would have been better than this. This is going to cause major problems once we return to the capital. You might have to give up your lordship for this."

Ike laughed. "Really? Even better, then. I never was cut out for lordship in the long haul."

Soren sighed, again. "Ike, you can't solve all your problems by violence."

Ike pulled Soren into a hug. "The rest I've got you for, then."

"Ike! Not here!" Soren whispered, blushing, against Ike's chest.

"No one's watching us." It was true - everyone had left or was taking care of their own tasks now. "I can't handle this, Soren. The talking, the planning, the- everything about being a noble. I just want to be helping people."

"... I suppose that this does help us help people. It would be tragic if the reconstruction was delayed by politics." Soren had started to relax in Ike's arms.

"So let's spend the rest of the money, go back to the capital, and take up mercenary work again. Get back out doing what we do. And take the opportunity to go out there and help people. Directly." Ike ruffled Soren's hair with a free hand.

"That could work. Though it'll be a shame to lose the queen's coffers." 

"We'll get through it though. The two of us, and all the mercs. Nothing's stopped us yet, right? We're not gonna lose to dumb ol' peacetime."

"... You're right. We'll get through." And in a quieter voice, that Ike could barely here with Soren's voice muffled in Ike's chest, "... you've always been looking out for helpless people, haven't you."

"What's that? I couldn't hear you, Soren."

A pause. "No, it's nothing." Soren pulled back. "Let's go. There's a barn that needs rebuilding."

"Sounds like a plan." And Ike and Soren headed off to their next project.


End file.
